Design Better · 2026-06-17 · 24 min
Typography is often treated as a detail - the thing you finalize after the real design decisions are made. But for our next guest, it’s closer to the foundation everything else rests on. He’s spent two decades in editorial design at some of the most iconic American magazines - Men’s Health , Esquire , Popular Science , Entertainment Weekly - and he’s now the Creative Director of Fast Company , where he recently led a redesign that does something pretty unusual: the magazine gets a completely new typeface every single issue. His name is Mike Schnaidt. This is a preview of a premium episode. Visit our Substack to listen to the entire interview: Mike’s also a professor, a runner, and the author of Creative Endurance - a book that maps the principles of physical and mental endurance onto the creative life. It’s built around 56 rules for sustaining a career in design, drawn from interviews with ultra-marathoners, astronauts, and designers who’ve pushed way past the limits most people set for themselves. And as you’ll hear, he’s already working on book two. We chat about the nuts and bolts of typography (utilitarian vs.
Chris Entwisle and Mark Havens: authors of WAIL on the constraints that led to timeless designs for Prestige Records58 / 100Niyati Gupta: Netflix Product Design Lead on what happens when a designer becomes a product manager, and why your influence might not be in your titleBonus Episode: Dorrian Porter returns with the Vestaboard NoteTina Roth Eisenberg: Creative Mornings founder on building communities that run on trustPaul Ford: Writer, developer & "fun Cassandra" on why everything is changing (but not how you think)